Do Alternative Medicines For Alzheimer's Really Work? Does Anything?

Everyone wants to see Alzheimer’s disease cured; and certainly theories abound regarding its cause and a potential cure. But what puzzles even more of us and concerns physicians and scientists alike are the host of products being sold that claim to prevent or treat memory loss without any hardcore old-fashioned science to back it up. In fact, the concern is so great that the Alzheimer’s Association—the world’s leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer's care, support and research—has compiled a list of these alternative medicines and the hard truth behind them.

They’re everywhere. Herbal remedies, dietary supplements and "medical foods" being promoted as memory enhancers or treatments to delay or prevent Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. But the Alzheimer’s Association is reminding a desperate public that claims about the safety and effectiveness of these products are “based largely on testimonials, traditionand a rather small body of scientific research.”

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The Alzheimer’s Association contends that “the rigorous scientific research required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the approval of a prescription drug is not required by law for the marketing of dietary supplements or medical foods," and caution buyers to beware.

Among these popular therapies are coconut oil, CoQ10, coral calcium, Omega-3 fatty acids and ginkgo biloba. The Alzheimer's Association offers links to how each were discovered and their effectiveness here.

Coenzyme Q₁₀, for example, is all the rage these days. Also known as ubiquinone, ubidecarenone, coenzyme Q, and abbreviated at times to CoQ₁₀, CoQ, or Q₁₀ is an antioxidant found in animals and most bacteria that the body produces naturally. Cells use CoQ10 for growth and maintenance.

Mayo Clinic reports that levels of CoQ10 in your body decrease as you age and have been found to be lower in people with certain conditions such as heart disease. The antioxidant is naturally found in meat, fish and whole grains.

However, since the amount of CoQ10 found in dietary sources isn't enough to significantly increase CoQ10 levels in the body, numerous companies sell the antioxidant as a supplement in capsules and tablets.

Research on CoQ10—though findings are mixed—has shown to improve symptoms of congestive heart failure, reduce blood pressure and when combined with other nutrients, might aid recovery in people who've had bypass and heart valve surgeries, according to Mayo Clinic. Studies have also shown some benefit of high doses in people in the early stages of Parkinson's disease and those with Statin-induced myopathy. And some research suggests that CoQ10 might decrease the frequency of migraines and could improve physical performance.

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Mayo goes on to say that supplements of CoQ10 are “generally safe,” but cautions that they can come with side effects and possible interactions with medications such as blood-thinning drugs.

Still the Alzheimer’s Association reports that the compound has not been studied for its effectiveness in treating Alzheimer’s. “A synthetic version of this compound, called idebenone, was tested for Alzheimer’s disease but did not show any benefit. Little is known about what dosage of coenzyme Q10 is considered safe, and there could be harmful effects if too much is taken,” the organization states.

Following are the Alzheimer’s Association’s main concerns about alternative therapies:

The organization states that although some of these remedies may be valid candidates for treatments, they hold that there are legitimate concerns about using them as alternative or even in addition to physician-prescribed therapy.

Effectiveness and safety are unknown. The rigorous scientific research required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the approval of a prescription drug is not required by law for the marketing of dietary supplements. The maker of a dietary supplement is not required to provide the FDA with the evidence on which it bases its claims for safety and effectiveness.

Purity is unknown. The FDA has no authority over supplement production. It is a manufacturer’s responsibility to develop and enforce its own guidelines for ensuring that its products are safe and contain the ingredients listed on the label in the specified amounts.

Dietary supplements can have serious interactions with prescribed medications. No one should take a supplement without first consulting a physician.

Tim Armour, president and CEO of Cure Alzheimer’s Fund said the topic of alternative treatments is a tricky one and in the end, like most things, is between the patient and his or her doctor.

Tim Armour, president and CEO of the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund(Photo courtesy of Cure Alzheimer's Fund)

The Cure Alzheimer’s Fund is all about trying new things. The organization describes itself as a non-profit “dedicated to funding research with the highest probability of preventing, slowing or reversing Alzheimer’s disease.” Frustrated with the slow pace of Alzheimer’s research, founders sought to “build an organization specifically designed to accelerate research, make bold bets and eradicate the disease.”

“Everywhere one of our researchers speaks publicly, she or he is asked ‘what can I take to forestall, delay or prevent Alzheimer’s?” Armour said. “There is a crying need for sound, reliable information about this. What complicates this is that many researchers do have some supplements that they either take themselves or carefully recommend to others. Most researchers are not MD’s; they are PhDs, and they know that most of these supplements have not been approved by the FDA or undergone rigorous clinical testing or clinical trials. And yet, the chemical composition of some of them and experience shows certain benefits from some of them in some people.”

Still, Armour said the Alzheimer’s Association is wise to add the caveat to information on alternative treatments. “I would have to say that the Alzheimer’s Association has it about right,” he said. “It is really tough to try to go one by one and say ‘ok’ or ‘not ok’ for each one. The effect of each supplement depends so much on the individual patient, the source, dosage and type of supplement, etc. that blanket recommendation or condemnations are very difficult to make. That is one reason that Cure Alzheimer’s Fund tries to stay away from such recommendations or condemnations. The latter is a bit easier, as with coconut oil, for example. There are no clinical studies that support its supposed benefit, and it is or can be, in fact, harmful to the heart and cardiac system. It’s a no-no. The most reliable answer, really, is the frustratingly mundane recommendation to ‘consult your physician.’ This should be an individual whom one trusts with one’s life, and if you can’t believe that person, who can you believe? They are not all educated well in dietary supplements to be sure. But they should know their patients and have at least a sense of what makes sense for that patient.”

DailyCaring—an Internet-based resource for adult family caregivers—explains what medications for Alzheimer’s can and can’t do, scams to watch out for, and which drugs are used in which stages of the disease.

The drugs currently on the market may help delay, lessen or stabilize Alzheimer’s symptoms like memory loss and confusion. Though the effects are usually subtle, they can improve quality of life for both the person with Alzheimer’s and the families caring for them, Daily Caring reports.

Still, it’s important to know that current medications can’t cure Alzheimer’s or stop it from progressing. Daily Caring and other reputable dementia experts contend that everyone should beware of unproven “cures” that claim to make the brain sharper, prevent dementia, or cure Alzheimer’s or dementia.

Donepezil (Photo By BSIP/UIG Via Getty Images)

The following are medications currently available for Alzheimer’s disease in the early to moderate stages (a class of drugs called cholinesterase inhibitors):

Though they don’t work for everyone, these drugs treat symptoms related to memory, thinking, language, judgment, and other cognitive processes; and may also help delay symptoms or slow them from worsening (for a limited time) and may help control some behavioral symptoms.

Aricept (donepezil) is approved for all stages of Alzheimer’s

Exelon (rivastigmine) is approved for mild to moderate Alzheimer’s

Razadyne (galantamine) is approved for mild to moderate Alzheimer’s

The following are medications currently available for Alzheimer’s disease in the moderate to severe stages:

Namenda (memantine) is the primary drug prescribed. It can improve memory, attention, reason, language, and the ability to perform simple tasks. Namenda can be used alone or with other Alzheimer’s disease treatments. People with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s might also benefit from taking both Namenda and a cholinesterase inhibitor (Aricept, Exelon, Razadyne). Namenda regulates the activity of glutamate, a chemical involved in information processing, storage and retrieval. It can cause side effects including headache, constipation, confusion and dizziness.

Aricept (donepezil) is approved for all stages of Alzheimer’s.

Namzaric (a combination of Namenda and Aricept).

Alzheimers.net is an online community created by people touched by Alzheimer’s disease made up of Alzheimer’s and dementia awareness advocates, adult children of aging parents, informed caregivers and professionals who treat memory loss disorders. The site seeks to inspire, educate and support caregivers and patients with Alzheimer’s research and advocacy information, articles discussing innovative dementia therapies, dementia caregiver tips and resources and new research on dementia causes, diagnostics, prevention and treatment.

The site lists four alternative treatments that they say, although discovered by accident, “have shown to lower the risk of the disease and even reverse its symptoms.” The author gives links to research supporting the claims:

Blood pressure medicines. High blood pressure medicines include ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) and diuretics that impact the cardiovascular system to lower blood pressure. A study at Johns Hopkins Universitydemonstrated how patients who took certain blood pressure medicines lowered their risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 50 percent. Researchers haven’t yet been able to determine exactly why certain blood pressure medicines affect cognitive function the way they do. But their findings warrant further studies.

Diabetes treatments. Scientists at Lancaster University examined the diabetes drug Victoza as a potential Alzheimer’s therapy. Victoza falls into a class of drugs designed to stimulate natural insulin production for diabetics. But researchers believed it could also prevent the buildup of beta-amyloids on brain cells. They injected Victoza into mice suffering from late-stage Alzheimer’s. After two months, the drug had reduced beta-amyloid plaques on the brain by 30 percent and protected brain cells from damage. These results have led to clinical trials to determine if the drug has the same effect on humans.

Rheumatoid arthritis drugs. Anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) are the first line of treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). If those don’t work, the next step is are biologics. Made up of proteins, biologics inhibit areas of the immune system that contribute to inflammation. At the University of Southampton, researchers have planned a study on the biologic Enbrel to determine if the drug can reduce inflammation and in the brain and, ideally, stop Alzheimer’s damage.

Cholesterol medicines. Statins are widely used to help people suffering from high cholesterol. These drugs block the action of an enzyme in the liver that produces cholesterol which can cause plaque buildup in the arteries and eventually cause heart attack or stroke. Some research indicates that in high doses statins help prevent dementia. But because these were not randomized trials and the studies done as randomized trials did not produce the same results, the FDA will not recommend statins as an Alzheimer’s treatment. So further studies are needed before statins can receive approval as an Alzheimer’s prevention or treatment. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20182019

NIA developed nearly 100 recommendations from the Alzheimer's Disease Research Summit which drew more than 3,000 participants onsite and via videocast.(Photo courtesy of National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.)

The simple refusal to quit by so many on curing the cognitive disease that affects some 5.7 million Americans today flies in the face of so many losses on the same front.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) just this week delivered recommendations to accelerate therapy development for Alzheimer’s disease.

Via the Alzheimer's Disease Research Summit 2018: Path to Treatment and Prevention, and convened by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of NIH at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), experts from government, academia, industry, and non-profit organizations put forward recommendations that provide a roadmap for an integrated, multidisciplinary research agenda necessary to inform priorities for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. “The recommendations are designed to guide continued efforts to build a collaborative, multi-stakeholder research environment capable of delivering urgently needed cures for people at all stages of the disease,” the NIH states. “A reoccurring theme from the summit and in the recommendations is a precision medicine approach to Alzheimer's treatment and prevention—the ability to develop interventions that can address the underlying disease process as well as the disease symptoms and be tailored to a person's unique disease risk profile.”

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